Ren'Py World's Crossing Academy [v1.3.0.4] [TeamEmberWings]

[VictorSeven]

Wowser. I dl'd the rework a few days ago, but it sounds like I should hold off to play?

I'm thinking so. Gimme a day or two to sort out this dialogue and I'll have 1.2.2.2 out to the public. Sorry for the delay.

 

[sadfuck]

I'm thinking so. Gimme a day or two to sort out this dialogue and I'll have 1.2.2.2 out to the public. Sorry for the delay.

Roger that and no apologies, man!
You're doing a good job and bringing people a sexy and engaging tale!

 

[VictorSeven]

[BUGFIX INCOMING] Some Adjustments to the Rework​

Wow, there has been a LOT of helpful feedback regarding this Season 1 rework. I've made a bunch of changes, and there are still some to do.

The main piece of feedback I'm hearing is that even though introducing the Chiara and Eshtel choice was a good thing, the pacing was wrong and it just felt way too early in the story. So I'm moving that to Eshtel's side story file that you'll get access to in Season 2. For now, you'll receive the bracelet from Chiara, and decide what to do with it later.

There were a bunch of bugfixes (were because I have already fixed them), some typos, and a weird bit of missed conditional dialogue surrounding the morning after Gillie's cathedral scene. I'mma revisit that and also set about moving all the conditional dialogue with Chiara about Eshtel, since it won't be needed till later.

1.2.2.2 should be ready for y'all within a day or so. We'll see how that feels and tweak from there. Once this is stable and there are no more issues, I'm turning my attention to the Android version.

I've also changed the wording of this project a bit. I used to call it a game. But I think that gives the wrong impression. Rather than having to keep explaining that this isn't your bread and butter porn game, I'm more referring to it as a story that includes sexual content. So, if people are looking for a quick fap game with a lot of easy sex scenes, they'll know this story isn't for them.



Thanks for your patience, all.

- Vic

 

[CollectorTivan]

Is this a harem game?

 

[VictorSeven]

Is this a harem game?

Top of each thread will contain all of the applicable tags

 

[indio68]

I'll be honest. If you have a problem starting games over, stop playing games until they're completed.

if it happen 1,2 times i don't care but if it happens agai and again every2-3 updates it's a bit much...

 

[Chinwiskers]

Can't say as I'm a fan of Chiara as a character nor how the MC not only accepts her bad attitude towards him so easily but rewards it by playing wingman to another L.I that readers may actually be interested in? No option to decline the exposure to any of that content?

EDIT: Ok after holding down the CTRL key out of irritation ( and curiosity) I find that things develop a little differently than it's led to be believed...

Still not convinced about the simpish way the MC allows certain characters attitudes to fly without checking them immediately.

 

[Alex5280]

[BUGFIX INCOMING] Some Adjustments to the Rework​

Wow, there has been a LOT of helpful feedback regarding this Season 1 rework. I've made a bunch of changes, and there are still some to do.

The main piece of feedback I'm hearing is that even though introducing the Chiara and Eshtel choice was a good thing, the pacing was wrong and it just felt way too early in the story. So I'm moving that to Eshtel's side story file that you'll get access to in Season 2. For now, you'll receive the bracelet from Chiara, and decide what to do with it later.

There were a bunch of bugfixes (were because I have already fixed them), some typos, and a weird bit of missed conditional dialogue surrounding the morning after Gillie's cathedral scene. I'mma revisit that and also set about moving all the conditional dialogue with Chiara about Eshtel, since it won't be needed till later.

1.2.2.2 should be ready for y'all within a day or so. We'll see how that feels and tweak from there. Once this is stable and there are no more issues, I'm turning my attention to the Android version.

I've also changed the wording of this project a bit. I used to call it a game. But I think that gives the wrong impression. Rather than having to keep explaining that this isn't your bread and butter porn game, I'm more referring to it as a story that includes sexual content. So, if people are looking for a quick fap game with a lot of easy sex scenes, they'll know this story isn't for them.

View attachment 3771381

Thanks for your patience, all.

- Vic

Seems to me that the MC should be giving the bracelet to Eshtel asap, while the flowers are still fresh and beautiful. Waiting a week or two when they have dried-up, wilted, and look like crap doesn't seem like a very nice gift to show interest in a girl.

 

[VictorSeven]

if it happen 1,2 times i don't care but if it happens agai and again every2-3 updates it's a bit much...

The restarts have all been because new variables have been introduced early in the story that enable certain systems to work later. This latest one was due to the S1 Rework combining two programs into one. You shouldn't have to start over again after this, unless I decide to implement the Love Languages system I dreamed up. That's just the nature of games that are in active development. As the other user stated, if you don't like starting over, wait till the 1.0 release to play most games/stories and you'll suffer minimal restarts. Any version before that, and you're playing an Early Access product, which tend to constantly be in flux and having things added to them.

Can't say as I'm a fan of Chiara as a character nor how the MC not only accepts her bad attitude towards him so easily but rewards it by playing wingman to another L.I that readers may actually be interested in? No option to decline the exposure to any of that content?

EDIT: Ok after holding down the CTRL key out of irritation ( and curiosity) I find that things develop a little differently than it's led to be believed...

Still not convinced about the simpish way the MC allows certain characters attitudes to fly without checking them immediately.

Most people aren't. Chiara is a character who is designed to have some pretty thick walls due to how she's been treated by people for most of her life. One aspect I haven't revealed is that, to her family, she is still very much in the closet, and having to hide what one truly is can make one rather bitter. As far as the MC goes, Aurum was built with a personality in mind rather than to be a self-insert character for the player like so many AVNs. He's a bit more patient with people than you might expect, and tends to think in angles. Rather than just immediately be offended and say "fuck her forever," he has a nagging curiosity about what made people like Chiara and Ms. Clements act the way they do, and even more about the kind of person that must lie neglected behind their respective masks of protective anger. He knows that anger is not an emotion. It's a mask, behind which always lies fear, pain, or a combination of the two. Ms. Clements' mask is pain-based. Jack's is fear-based. Chiara's is a mix of the two. Aurum is smart enough to know (for the most part) that the shitty way they've behaved towards him isn't personal, but more out of a need to appear strong and keep people at arm's length. Because if you never get close to anyone, no one can ever hurt you, right?

Highly disagree with calling that simping. That's just simple emotional intelligence. Aurum WAS built to be too passive at the beginning of the story. Even Ember will comment on that, saying, "You may grow a backbone, yet." His attitude and his tendency to put others before himself to a fault is the flaw I built him with, and part of his story arc is unlearning those bad habits and actually growing a bit of a spine. If you're used to playing the typical Chad MC, you're probably not gonna like Aurum for a while. He might make you cringe a little. But that's the point. If he started off perfect, his story wouldn't be interesting. That's my take on it, anyway. Over time, you'll notice Aurum starts putting his foot down, starting with the two bitches who littered in front of him in the intro and continuing with Gillie in S2. I plan for this to gradually increase to the point where he's not so passive about addressing disrespect. But it's a process.

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Seems to me that the MC should be giving the bracelet to Eshtel asap, while the flowers are still fresh and beautiful. Waiting a week or two when they have dried-up, wilted, and look like crap doesn't seem like a very nice gift to show interest in a girl.

That is a fantastic point and I have a solution for that. Thanks for pointing this out.

 

[Chinwiskers]

VictorSeven: Most people aren't. Chiara is a character who is designed to have some pretty thick walls due to how she's been treated by people for most of her life. One aspect I haven't revealed is that, to her family, she is still very much in the closet, and having to hide what one truly is can make one rather bitter. As far as the MC goes, Aurum was built with a personality in mind rather than to be a self-insert character for the player like so many AVNs.

I do see the trope you've adopted of the MC being a jellyfish and I get it, truly. I did regret writing that post here not long after I did it as I have a lot of respect and appreciation for what you've created here. That's most likely why it irritated me as much as it did.

And although the chad MC is one of the most common MC tropes there is in these VN's, the overly empathetic nice guy trope is definitely not uncommon either.

Again, I do respect it's your vision and project and I admit to jumping the gun on the whole "forced lesbian NTR content" with how Chiara just decides to "claim" one of the L.I's immediately and you are forced on bended knee to not only let it happen, but to assist with it.. I mean imagine if Chiara was a male character? It's NTR right? I mean it doesn't pan out that way but in that moment you can understand why it might be distasteful to someone who isn't interested in engaging with that kind of content and neither a tag nor comment was placed to inform of it ?

I appreciate your storytelling abilities and how well written this is, it also touches on some issues that aren't often (if at all) represented or talked about especially in a visual novel.

So.. hats off to you, and I apologise if I've come across as aggressive, passive or otherwise.

P.S
Huge thanks for such a detailed and lengthy response too! You are clearly a conscientious and well mannered individual, thank you for responding.

 

[VictorSeven]

Again, I do respect it's your vision and project and I admit to jumping the gun on the whole "forced lesbian NTR content" with how Chiara just decides to "claim" one of the L.I's immediately and you are forced on bended knee to not only let it happen, but to assist with it.. I mean imagine if Chiara was a male character? It's NTR right? I mean it doesn't pan out that way but in that moment you can understand why it might be distasteful to someone who isn't interested in engaging with that kind of content and neither a tag nor comment was placed to inform of it ?

I appreciate your kind words, thank you. This little story bit was a MASSIVE AVN Faux Pas that I wrote in initially because Eshtel was not a popular character, not realizing that there would be people who wanted to romance her. I made a lot of mistakes in the early writing because I was writing it as if writing a novel, not an interactive story like it is now. So cleaning this up and giving the player a choice on whether to wingman for Chiara or date Eshtel for themselves is me correcting a mistake. It's a mistake I will not be repeating in this story or any other.

See, I've played so much Chad MC porn games that I've become sick of the archetype. I haven't run into many empathetic MCs, so I have no idea how common that is. A nice middle ground is what I'm aiming for, not Chad, but not complete pushover Nice Guy who never gets any 'cause he's so pathetic. I was aiming for a sense of justice that's held back by bad emotional habits that were pounded into him during his last relationship and through other life events.

What I really set out to do with this project was to create a crossroads between two feelings. First was the feeling you get when you play something like Final Fantasy 7 and spend time with these lovingly crafted characters with that depth of emotion you get from like Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie... but even though you may absolutely fall for one or more of these characters, you never get the chance to explore what your connection to that character means.

Then you have porn games, where the "story" is more often than not thinly stitched together excuses to move to the next sex scene. Just like fighting games and their dumb reasons to fight.

I wanted to bridge the gap. I wanted a character-first world where each person you meet feels whole, complete, and deep, but that ALSO lets you explore your connection to the character an not just fantasize about what a romance path might look like and end with. I admit, I got way over ambitious with this particular project. But I'm sticking to my guns and doing my best to see it through. Through this all, I've learned a LOT about AVNs and porn games and have worked hard to correct what are generally accepted as no-nos in this genre. It's my hope that I can fix the last of these glaring mistakes and that WCA can finally be something I want to advertise and use to collab with other creators.

Anyways, thank you for your input. 1.2.2.2 with the bugfixes will be up on the Itch page within minutes.

 

[CollectorTivan]

I haven't played the game but from your response, Chiara seems like my type of LI. Ms. Clemente too.

 

[tmu500]

I appreciate your kind words, thank you. This little story bit was a MASSIVE AVN Faux Pas that I wrote in initially because Eshtel was not a popular character, not realizing that there would be people who wanted to romance her. I made a lot of mistakes in the early writing because I was writing it as if writing a novel, not an interactive story like it is now. So cleaning this up and giving the player a choice on whether to wingman for Chiara or date Eshtel for themselves is me correcting a mistake. It's a mistake I will not be repeating in this story or any other.

See, I've played so much Chad MC porn games that I've become sick of the archetype. I haven't run into many empathetic MCs, so I have no idea how common that is. A nice middle ground is what I'm aiming for, not Chad, but not complete pushover Nice Guy who never gets any 'cause he's so pathetic. I was aiming for a sense of justice that's held back by bad emotional habits that were pounded into him during his last relationship and through other life events.

What I really set out to do with this project was to create a crossroads between two feelings. First was the feeling you get when you play something like Final Fantasy 7 and spend time with these lovingly crafted characters with that depth of emotion you get from like Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie... but even though you may absolutely fall for one or more of these characters, you never get the chance to explore what your connection to that character means.

Then you have porn games, where the "story" is more often than not thinly stitched together excuses to move to the next sex scene. Just like fighting games and their dumb reasons to fight.

I wanted to bridge the gap. I wanted a character-first world where each person you meet feels whole, complete, and deep, but that ALSO lets you explore your connection to the character an not just fantasize about what a romance path might look like and end with. I admit, I got way over ambitious with this particular project. But I'm sticking to my guns and doing my best to see it through. Through this all, I've learned a LOT about AVNs and porn games and have worked hard to correct what are generally accepted as no-nos in this genre. It's my hope that I can fix the last of these glaring mistakes and that WCA can finally be something I want to advertise and use to collab with other creators.

Anyways, thank you for your input. 1.2.2.2 with the bugfixes will be up on the Itch page within minutes.

Thank you for the link.

 

[VictorSeven]

[RELEASE/BUGFIX] 1.2.2.2 is Live!​

Hooooo

Leeeeee

Okay. Lots of suggestions from y'all. Lots of great points. Lots of feedback. I've compiled it all into this version. I've had to move some stuff around, I've had to frankenstein a few scenes, and I even added an extra one to explain how the flower bracelet won't wilt. Took me a night and a day, but after pounding code for a bit, I think this version of Season 1 will be better.

Now, I don't think a restart will be necessary unless you wanna see the new stuff I put in. There are no new variables, and I've only really moved a variable later in the story, so that SHOULDN'T trip anything up. Shouldn't.

Anyways, download it here:

You must be registered to see the links

I need a nap.

- Vic

 

[tmu500]

[RELEASE/BUGFIX] 1.2.2.2 is Live!​

Hooooo

Leeeeee

Okay. Lots of suggestions from y'all. Lots of great points. Lots of feedback. I've compiled it all into this version. I've had to move some stuff around, I've had to frankenstein a few scenes, and I even added an extra one to explain how the flower bracelet won't wilt. Took me a night and a day, but after pounding code for a bit, I think this version of Season 1 will be better.

Now, I don't think a restart will be necessary unless you wanna see the new stuff I put in. There are no new variables, and I've only really moved a variable later in the story, so that SHOULDN'T trip anything up. Shouldn't.

Anyways, download it here:

You must be registered to see the links

I need a nap.

- Vic

thank you and keep up the great work.

 

[Chinwiskers]

I think my knee-jerk reaction earlier comes from experiencing a lot of miss-steps authors of VN's have made on this site to be honest. I really shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion I did earlier and remained patient.

One of the VN's on here actually bothered me so much that I started a Re-Write of it lol

But you have most definitely made the right moves with your work, especially if it's the outcome of absorbing other's feedback to make a more enjoyable experience. I am definitely enjoying it so far and there is a lot of emotionally satisfying moments in it that you really don't get in most VN's of this type/genre. So.. keep up the good work with that!

P.S - I would also heartily agree about the Giga Chad MC being tired and played out ! A fine line should be drawn I think when writing a character that the viewer/reader is "adopting" as their persona throughout the story. Nobody should want everything to be snap of a finger easy nor should they want to be pushed around and made a fool of... well... unless that's what I enjoy of course haha! Which I suppose brings up the topic of "horses for courses" and all that.

It's all too easy to sound preachy I'm discovering

 

[Jason177877]

I appreciate your kind words, thank you. This little story bit was a MASSIVE AVN Faux Pas that I wrote in initially because Eshtel was not a popular character, not realizing that there would be people who wanted to romance her. I made a lot of mistakes in the early writing because I was writing it as if writing a novel, not an interactive story like it is now. So cleaning this up and giving the player a choice on whether to wingman for Chiara or date Eshtel for themselves is me correcting a mistake. It's a mistake I will not be repeating in this story or any other.

See, I've played so much Chad MC porn games that I've become sick of the archetype. I haven't run into many empathetic MCs, so I have no idea how common that is. A nice middle ground is what I'm aiming for, not Chad, but not complete pushover Nice Guy who never gets any 'cause he's so pathetic. I was aiming for a sense of justice that's held back by bad emotional habits that were pounded into him during his last relationship and through other life events.

What I really set out to do with this project was to create a crossroads between two feelings. First was the feeling you get when you play something like Final Fantasy 7 and spend time with these lovingly crafted characters with that depth of emotion you get from like Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie... but even though you may absolutely fall for one or more of these characters, you never get the chance to explore what your connection to that character means.

Then you have porn games, where the "story" is more often than not thinly stitched together excuses to move to the next sex scene. Just like fighting games and their dumb reasons to fight.

I wanted to bridge the gap. I wanted a character-first world where each person you meet feels whole, complete, and deep, but that ALSO lets you explore your connection to the character an not just fantasize about what a romance path might look like and end with. I admit, I got way over ambitious with this particular project. But I'm sticking to my guns and doing my best to see it through. Through this all, I've learned a LOT about AVNs and porn games and have worked hard to correct what are generally accepted as no-nos in this genre. It's my hope that I can fix the last of these glaring mistakes and that WCA can finally be something I want to advertise and use to collab with other creators.

Anyways, thank you for your input. 1.2.2.2 with the bugfixes will be up on the Itch page within minutes.

Porn games where it's more of a story with 18+ content is what I always asked for, and not just because I want to jack off to it. (sometimes I don't even, it's sometimes just emotional stimulation and gives me more attraction to characters) I think showing the more non-fairy tale like parts of a relationship, seeing two people get that close, gives much more emotional investment in said characters and relationships. Keep doing what you are doing, and hopefully more will be inspired to make porn games with emotional weight and story over excuses to get to the next h-scene. I wanted to ask though, I read earlier in the thread and saw someone mentioned the idea of small individual endings for each girl, at least core girl. That's waaaay in the future but is there still a chance for that and also a harem end? You could make it a choice at the very end to get the ending you want to see. Understandable if not since that'd be a shit ton of work, but it'd be really neat if you could show a tiny epilogue for each character and one for harem, like where they end up 5 years from now type of thing, like they do in Visual Novels.

 

[VictorSeven]

I haven't played the game but from your response, Chiara seems like my type of LI. Ms. Clemente too.

I'mma have to apologize to you, then. While each of the girls is gonna have SOME sort of wall you have to get through to get to know them, Chiara and Ms. Clements are probably the most aggressive about their defenses. Sadly, Chiara is lesbian and will not be directly romanceable. I'm not gonna do the "gotta convert the lesbian" trope with her, and a lot of people like that things are staying that way. Ms. Clements, though, has a very long and convoluted story that will ultimately end with a pretty good reward, I think. I do have a few other LIs that lean toward Tsundere or are fairly combative about their defenses. Wither nearly blows you up the first time she catches you ogling her friend. Then again, she's in the petite category, and I dunno how you feel about petite characters.

I think my knee-jerk reaction earlier comes from experiencing a lot of miss-steps authors of VN's have made on this site to be honest. I really shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion I did earlier and remained patient.

One of the VN's on here actually bothered me so much that I started a Re-Write of it lol

But you have most definitely made the right moves with your work, especially if it's the outcome of absorbing other's feedback to make a more enjoyable experience. I am definitely enjoying it so far and there is a lot of emotionally satisfying moments in it that you really don't get in most VN's of this type/genre. So.. keep up the good work with that!

P.S - I would also heartily agree about the Giga Chad MC being tired and played out ! A fine line should be drawn I think when writing a character that the viewer/reader is "adopting" as their persona throughout the story. Nobody should want everything to be snap of a finger easy nor should they want to be pushed around and made a fool of... well... unless that's what I enjoy of course haha! Which I suppose brings up the topic of "horses for courses" and all that.

It's all too easy to sound preachy I'm discovering

Brother, my knee-jerk responses are always absolute garbage. That's why I have to let myself process for a bit before I respond lol. It goes without saying, but I'mma say it anyway because it deserves to be said, the story would not be what it is without input from the community. These people have changed this story for the better time and time again, pointing out plot holes to patch, suggesting alternate ways of doing things, even contributing code they wrote. So massive thanks to people who spoke up without beating me about the head and shoulders.

Porn games where it's more of a story with 18+ content is what I always asked for, and not just because I want to jack off to it. (sometimes I don't even, it's sometimes just emotional stimulation and gives me more attraction to characters) I think showing the more non-fairy tale like parts of a relationship, seeing two people get that close, gives much more emotional investment in said characters and relationships. Keep doing what you are doing, and hopefully more will be inspired to make porn games with emotional weight and story over excuses to get to the next h-scene. I wanted to ask though, I read earlier in the thread and saw someone mentioned the idea of small individual endings for each girl, at least core girl. That's waaaay in the future but is there still a chance for that and also a harem end? You could make it a choice at the very end to get the ending you want to see. Understandable if not since that'd be a shit ton of work, but it'd be really neat if you could show a tiny epilogue for each character and one for harem, like where they end up 5 years from now type of thing, like they do in Visual Novels.

SAME! God, emotional tension, hesitation, slow burn and the like are massive for me, and I figured there are others out there like me. It's like the frosting on the cake. Sure, the cake by itself ain't bad, but the frosting just MMF. Seals the deal.

As for your question, I wanted to build the story in such a way that one playthrough is all it takes to see everything you wanna see. I eschewed the concept of traditional "endings" in favor of the intention to include an "ending" at the end of each girl's Free Time side story. So you can have as many happily ever afters as you like during your story. As far as a "harem ending," I'm not quite sure how I'd do that other than potentially coding a system to check whether the endings for two girls had been reached as prerequisites to playing a secret ending scene afterwards. Like, say you finish Nook's side story and get her ending. Then you finish Tilai's and get her ending. Maybe after you view those, a secret Nook + Tilai ending plays or something. Only way I can conceivably do this, I think, and it would directly depend on which characters' stories were intertwined. Imagine how much work an "Oops! All Goblins" ending would take lol.

Fuck. Now I wanna do that.

But yeah, I wanted to have an epilogue in each girl's side story complete with end credits and music, but sadly all the music I wanted to use is copyright

 

[Mommysbuttslut]

Then you finish Tilai's and get her ending. Maybe after you view those, a secret Nook + Tilai ending plays or something. Only way I can conceivably do this, I think, and it would directly depend on which characters' stories were intertwined. Imagine how much work an "Oops! All Goblins" ending would take lol.

That's genuinely probably the best way to do it, just treat it as a bunch of smaller harems. a Full harem ending would either be too complex or too restrictive but a goblin princess harem ending would be seen by virtually every gobbo fan, and there's a lot of us. Could do a security team harem ending. Could put the dryads with another high fantasy race, wasn't there a fairy? So put them for a high fantasy harem ending. Could make mini harems out of all sorts of different groups and as long as the player gets every girl from the group they get the ending. Would still essentially combine into a full harem ending but not required 52 million different checks and versions for every girl a player chooses to avoid.

 

[Scotsman1989]

What I am looking forward to most is the possibility for a full harem of both cute human girls and gloriously beautiful non-humans.
Especially the way the MC will treat them all equally with nothing short of pure love and kindness.